BUFFALO, N.Y. — With inclement weather in the forecast, one of Western New York's favorite donut shops will be closing early on Saturday.
Paula's tweeted early Saturday morning that it will be closing all four locations at 1 p.m. for the safety of its staff and customers.
This comes as a High Wind Warning has been issued for all of Western New York. The warning will go into effect Saturday at 1 p.m. and continue until 11 p.m. Winds are estimated to be 35 to 45 mph with wind gusts up to 65 to 70 mph.
In anticipation of this weather system, all lakeside parks in the City of Buffalo will be closed at noon on Saturday. This includes the Erie Basin Marina, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, Broderick Park, and the Bird Island Pier. People are asked to delay non-essential travel while the high winds and flooding warnings are in effect.
"Based on the weather forecast and warnings, we anticipate wind damage, power outages, and lakeshore flooding," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
An empty-truck ban on the New York State Thruway will also go into effect at noon on Saturday. The ban across Western New York and the Finger Lakes regions will remain in place until further notice.
In Hamburg, emergency services manager Sean Crotty says he is in contact with residents near Hoover Beach to try to prepare for whatever comes their way Saturday.
Utility companies have taken note too.
NYSEG is pre-staging more than 800 line and tree crews statewide in preparation for the storm.
National Grid is implementing its comprehensive emergency response plan, which includes using outside resources, pre-staging crews in areas expected to be the most affected, and calling life support and critical facility customers to make sure they are prepared.
To make sure everyone is safe, people are reminded to notify National Grid of power outages, never touch down power lines and report them to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or 911.
NYSEG will provide updates throughout the event to the general public on their website and social media channels (Facebook and Twitter). Customers should also sign up for outage alerts and download the NYSEG mobile app to get the most up-to-date information.
